Mick’s Top 10 Memory Verses

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Acts 4:12

for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Gal 2:21

for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.

Gal 2:16

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ,

James 2:26

as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Matt 7:12

Do unto others as you would have them do to you: for this is the law and the prophets.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Phil 2:12

Continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

2 Thess 2:13

Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

1 John 5:6 The Spirit is Truth.

Rom 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes.

Matt 28:19-20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

OK, it is 12, so sue me.

How to Get WHATEVER You Want

John 14:14
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
NKJV

John 15:7-8
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
NKJV

1 John 5:14-15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
NKJV

WOW!

That is somekind of promise. We have the promise that we can have whatever we want. All we need do is to comply with the conditional side of these verses. So we need to understand what “in My name,” “you abide in Me and My words abide in you,” and “ask according to His will” mean.

Let’s start with “in My name.” When we get together for Christmas we don’t normally hear about Pilgrims, Indians and Turkeys. We do very specific Christmas activities. So when we get together in Jesus’ name, then we need to be doing things that are specific to His name. We need to know what His name means.

“Jesus” is from the Greek for the Hebrew “Jeshua” which means “YHWH Saves.” “Christ” is from the Greek for the Hebrew “Meshiah” which means “the anointed one.” If I may interject an english word in between the two to make it sound like a sentence, then we have Jesus Christ means YHWH Saves through the anointed one.

Therefore, if we are asking in His name then we would be asking for someone’s salvation through Jesus Christ.

Next is “you abide in Me.” I would take that to mean that we are being obedient to Jesus’ teachings. Basically sumed up by, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, both in word and in deed.

Then, “My words abide in you.” Seems simple enough. I would think this means reading, studying and memorizing scripture.

Therefore, if we are abiding in Him and His word abides in us then we are asking for His help so that we or others may be obedient to His word and we pray the scriptures. Beth Moore has a wonderful book on this called, “Praying God’s Word.”

Lastly, “ask according to His will.” I found 4 passages in the Bible that specifically define God’s will.

John 6:40
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
NKJV

1 Thess 4:3-8
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
NKJV

1 Thess 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
NKJV

1 Peter 2:15-17
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
NKJV

Summing up these 4 passages we have believe in Jesus, be sanctified, don’t sin, rejoice, pray without ceasing, be thankful and do good works.

Therefore, if we are asking according to God’s will then we are asking for a deeper faith in Jesus, asking to be recreated in His image, asking for help against sin, giving praise, constantly being mindful of God in our lives, giving thanks, or asking for help in doing good works.

How does this look in practical application?

If you desire to be the MVP of the Superbowl then your prayer may look like this. Dear Lord, I want to be the MVP of the Superbowl so that I may give testimony of your saving grace in my life and help others to come to a saving faith as well.

Whatever your current heart’s desire is, is where you should start. Just remember to tie you heart’s desire to one of God’s desires. Now what will happen? As you continue to pray this prayer and to read, study, and memorize God’s word you will most likely notice a change. That is the sanctification part taking place. Your desire may begin to change.

How do I know this? I have experienced it myself and seen it in others. Good example is the Superbowl. I saw TBN interview about 20 players that played in the Superbowl this year. Not one of them said winning the Superbowl would be an answered prayer. Not one of them said playing in the Superbowl was an answered prayer. Everyone of them said they were so thankful to have the strength and the skill to play football at the level they had obtained. They gave Glory to God for being the source of that ability and said all the rest of this stuff was nice, but it is merely gravy to the meat that Jesus Christ had already filled them with.

Scripture and prayer sometimes change situations, but they always change you. Making you desire what He desires.

Why Be Offended?

Some comedienne just made some comment about there being no more Saints because Saints are just people who heard voices and now we have medicine to cure that.

I hear many people on TV are all upset and the Catholic Church is all offended.

Why be offended?

We should not feel offended, we should expect such things as this from people who do not know Jesus Christ.

People who do not know Jesus Christ are destined for an eternal existence separated from their Creator.

We should not feel offended by them. We should feel sorry for them. We should pray for them.

Instead of fighting back, we should be loving them back.

Leg Break

If I am boasting, then let me boast about the Lord and what He has done, is doing, and continues to do in me.

Friday Dec 7, ’07; a day that will live in infamy. I was showing Aaron (age 15) some wrestling moves in the basement. Kateleigh (age 9) was watching. Each time we got up to start again Kateleigh would tell us we should take off our shoes. I was allowing Aaron to practice a takedown (not even struggling against him) when my shoe stuck to the carpet so my foot did not move as my body went to the floor and snapped my right leg, three inches above the ankle.

My first thought was a flashback to a college health class. The teacher told us if we wondered whether or not we have broken a bone then we probably did not. When you break a bone you feel and hear it “snap.” I knew I had broken my leg because I felt and heard it “snap.”

I grabbed my leg at the point of pain and felt my hand move the bone approximately 2” back into place. Broken was confirmed.

At this point I realized (second thought) I did not swear when the leg broke nor did a swear word even enter my mind. I think this is a grand example of the “renewal of the mind.” Before beginning to read the Bible on a regular basis, swearing was a very natural reaction for me. Just by reading the bible and spending much time in prayer, I find that I have changed from the inside out. I gauge this by observing what my initial (natural) response is to a traumatic or unexpected event; such as breaking a bone.

My third significant thought was not a natural one either. It comes from reaffirming, on a daily basis, a lesson I learned from Isaiah 45:7 “… I bring prosperity and create disaster: I, the LORD, do all these things.” Also Job 2:10 says, “…shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Lastly, from the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Only because I had affirmed this for years, now that bad had come my way, I was able to quickly say, “OK Lord, how are you going to bring glory to yourself from my broken leg. I thank you for my broken leg, please make me aware of how I may bring glory to You from this situation.”

Of course the natural question arises, “Why does God cause disasters?” The answer comes from John 9:3. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Now my job is to display the work of God in my life.

Preparation during the good times is key to being open to God’s will in the bad times. I highly suspect that giving this difficult teaching to someone who is going through tough times would cause it to not be well received.

I was able to speak the name of Jesus to the 2 emergency techs who rescued me from the basement. I was able to crack jokes in the ER and make the people in there laugh.

I was in the ER when my cell phone rang and it was my friend from Ghana, Africa. He said he felt something was wrong with us and so he needed to call. WOW! I handed the phone to Cindy and let her talk to him.

While talking with the ER doctor I asked if they were going to put me to sleep before they reset the leg because I knew it was going to be very painful. She said, “Of course, that was standard procedure.” Another doctor came in and was looking at my leg when all of a sudden he pulls the leg, turns my foot back into alignment with my leg and shoved it back into place.

My body was in full pain. I could feel my toenails, I could feel my hair, and I could feel pain surrounding my body out to about 3 inches from my skin. I sat up and screamed at the top of my lungs.

My mind however was still having fun. My first thought was, “I wonder what the people down the hall are thinking about all this noise I am making.” Then, “Cindy will never be able to hold that ‘birth pain’ thing over my head again.” At this point the doctor says, “the pain should begin to subside in about 10 to 15 minutes.” Now I am thinking, “that is a piece of information I really didn’t need.”

At some point they brought the x-rays in for us to look at. The Tibia was broken in two, very clean break. The Fibula was broken in two places. I was admitted to the hospital for surgery the next day.

At 6 am, the surgeon came in. I was awake but not expecting anyone. He says, “How are you doing today?” I replied, “I am good.” He said in a very shocked voice, “that is not what I heard.” Then proceeded to tell me all the things wrong with my leg. My mental response, this is a guy who doesn’t understand the concept of Peace during adversity. Then he told me about the things he was going to do to fix my leg. My mental response, this is a guy who needs to hear about Jesus as the Healer.

When he finished speaking he ended with, “Do you have any questions?” I said, “Yes, could we pray over this?”

I might as well have taken both hands, and with the full force of my body, shoved him in the chest. He flung backwards and had to take a step backward to keep from falling down. He stuttered to find words to say and finally ended with, “I guess so.”

I placed my hand on his and prayed. I don’t remember what came out of my mouth, but I remember praying in my head that God would give me the words that this man needed to hear.

When I finished, he said the surgery was scheduled for 9 pm and sometimes it gets moved up. The thought flashed through my mind to say, don’t worry the Lord will move it up. Within 2 seconds he had bolted for the door and my chance was gone. I have never given a word of prophecy before and don’t know that I should have that time. Within 2 minutes he stuck his head back in the door and told me they had moved it up and I would be going in at 5. Then gone again. Then the thought came to me that I had been given another chance, but the thought didn’t come to me until after he left. One minute later the nurse came in and told me that it was moved up again and I was going down in one hour. My first chance at prophecy and I was a total “no show.”

The rest of my stay I focused on being the best patient I could possibly be. Unfortunately, the IV I had kept running right through me and every two hours I had to call the nurse’s aid to help me go to the bath room. I felt like such a burden. Then I noticed that they started checking on me every hour or so. I can’t prove it but I got the feeling they enjoyed being in the room with me and were looking for reasons to help me because there were other people on the floor they really didn’t want to go see. Don’t know for sure, but I do know that I got great service from the nurses and the nurse’s aids.

Cab Ride

Cab Ride


On Dec. 31, 2006 I got to witness a great conversation between a Charismatic and a non-practicing Muslim. We got in the cab at the Denver International Airport and rode to a hotel in Denver. The complete conversation took about 20 minutes. This is a paraphrase of what I can remember.

When we got in the cab the music was loud and sexually descriptive. The cab driver appeared to be a recent immigrant from somewhere in Africa. We asked him to turn off the radio, which he did without argument and then my friend went to work.

Friend: Where are you from?

Driver: I am from Djibouti.

Friend: Where is that?

Driver: Northeast part of Africa.

Friend: Have you seen the coke commercial where the guy says that the Capital of Djibouti is Djibouti?

Driver: No.

Friend: Is the Capital of Djibouti, Djibouti?

Driver: Yes, yes it is.

Friend: Have you found any good churches around here?

Driver: Oh, no, no. I am Muslim.

Friend: Have you found any good Mosks around here?

Driver: Oh, no, no. I am not a practicing Muslim. There is a place I go on Friday nights sometimes but not really. I don’t really know my religion.

Friend: Do you know anything about Jesus?

Driver: Oh, Yes! I know that one. Jesus was a good prophet!

Friend: Cool. Jesus was a good prophet. Great. What did He teach?

Driver: Hum? I don’t know.

Friend: I do. Would you like me to tell you what He taught?

Driver: Sure!

Friend: He taught that He is God.

Driver: NO! NO! Jesus is not God. Jesus is just a good prophet!

Friend: I can show you in the Bible where Jesus taught that He is God, if you like?

Driver: No, no. I trust you that it is there.

Friend: OK. Then, if Jesus is a good prophet and He taught that He is God, then He must be God or if He is not God then He must not be a good prophet. He must be a false prophet. So I think we can logically conclude that there in no way Jesus can be just a good prophet.

Driver: I never thought of it that way before.

Friend: So do you think He is a false prophet or do you think He is God?

Driver: I don’t know. I will have to study this.

Friend: Excellent. I encourage you to read both your Koran and the Bible and continuously ask God to show you who Jesus really is. I firmly believe He will give you a good answer.

Driver: I will have to do that.

My friend gave him some money to buy his first Bible and the driver assured us he would buy a Bible and try to answer this question. I got to witness a man change from a non-seeker into a seeker. It was pretty cool for a 20 minute cab ride.

Mission Statement

I am committed to help people develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I do so by encouraging Bible Study with Life Applications, praying continuously, fellowship with other believers, and witnessing in word and deed.

What does a personal relationship with Jesus Christ mean?

Pretty much the same as you have a relationship with anyone else. (1) You talk to them, (2) you listen to them, (3) you make their concerns your concerns and (4) they make your concerns their concerns.

(1) We talk to Jesus just by talking. He is always listening. Most people call this prayer and it really messes up the way they talk. I have recently tried to change my language with Jesus from formal to friendly. Instead of “Dear God please forgive me,” I am starting to use “Sorry Jesus, I bet that must have hurt you.”

(2) Jesus speaks to us through the Bible, through coincidence, through our sense of right and wrong, and by faith.

Bible - The Bible has much to say so we must read it. It will influence the way we think (a renewal of the mind) and adjust our sense of right and wrong.

Coincidence – Once I was fasting and was having a miserable time of it. As I got home I asked God if I should continue the fast or break it. When I opened the door I saw my wife standing there with a plate of BBQ Chicken. If she had just gone to the trouble of making BBQ Chicken (she rarely cooks), then there is no way I was telling her I couldn’t eat because I was fasting. I took the coincidence to mean God was saying it was OK to break the fast.

Sense of Right and Wrong – Ever heard of a conscience?

Faith – My sister told me a story once of how she and some of her office workers had purchased the same outfits for work. She says she prayed every morning for God to show her which outfit to wear that day so that she would not be wearing the same outfit as her co-workers that day. She owned 5 outfits and never wore the same outfit twice in one week nor wore the same outfit on the same day as a co-worker in the year that she was in that office. She did not hear words or have any light shine on the outfit. She just prayed and then made a decision, having faith that God would lead her to the correct one.

(3) By reading the Bible, we begin to learn what concerns God. Much of it is tied up in Love the Lord your God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself. By practicing the disciplines below you begin to change from the inside out into a more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled person. You don’t have to think about how you should behave as a Christian, you just do because it becomes part of you.

(4) If God is concerned enough to find an outfit for my sister then I think you can be pretty sure that God is concerned about your problems too.

Bible Study with Life Applications – If you have never read the Bible then just read it. Don’t worry about study yet, just get The Word inside you. After reading it once then we can go back and start to study and memorize scripture. Life Applications doesn’t just mean that there is great advice in the Bible (which there is), but it also means that if you memorize scripture then you have a weapon to use when temptation appears. When temptation arrives you get your mind on the Word that you have memorized and the temptation will pass. Try it, you’ll like it.

Praying Continuously – I define this as taking captive every thought into the obedience of Jesus Christ. So if you are at work and you are concentrating on your work as if you are doing it unto the Lord, then even though you are not talking to God or even thinking directly about God, you are still in a Jesus mindset, therefore praying continuously. The times when I am not focused on work or in conversation with someone, then I sing songs to God to keep my thoughts in obedience.

Fellowship – It is just a strong human tendency that people become like and behave like the people they hang around with. So hang around with people who love Jesus.

Witnessing in word– I have been given a beautiful witnessing technique. Whenever I am in conversation with someone, I try very hard to get words like church, Sunday School, Pastor, or Seminary into the conversation. If the other person is interested in talking such things then they will pick up on those words and ask questions. Now I have the right to speak and I know I have an interested party to speak to. If the person ignores such language and keeps the conversation on whatever it was, then at least that person knows that I am not ashamed and I am also not pushy. When the person is ready to talk, I am someone that is approachable.

I took awhile to get to the point of witnessing and in doing so I think I have defined the bare minimum at what you should know before you begin to witness. I think there are only two questions you must be able to answer before you begin. One, is How do you become a Christian? If you don’t know the answer to that then how do you know you are one? Two, Why are you a Christian? Other than those two questions, I think you can answer all other questions with, I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you.

Witnessing in deed – Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. What do you leave in your wake; Goodness and mercy or struggle and conflict? Just pay attention to each interaction with other people and try to leave them with a feeling of goodness and mercy. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Who is Paul?

Birth and Training

Paul was born as Saul in Tarsus. He was a pure bred Israelite of the Tribe of Benjamin. Gamaliel was a very famous teacher under which he studied. Rising quickly ahead of his peers, he became a Pharisee of Pharisees.

He must have been an independent thinker as well because he differed with Gamaliel on how to deal with the members of “The Way.” He felt justified in zealously persecuting the members of “The Way” by stoning them to death because of the account of Phinehas in Num 25:6-11.

6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 11 "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them.

Gamaliel took a different approach.

Acts 5:33-39

34 Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them: "Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it — lest you even be found to fight against God."

Conversion

Indeed, that is exactly what Paul found himself doing on the road to Damascus. Blinded by a light and hearing the voice of the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Paul becomes a believer. His eyes are opened by Ananias and then Paul goes into a period of study that lasted 3 years. I think that he went by himself, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, and reread the scriptures he had so adamantly been studying all his life. This time he read them with new eyes. This time he was able to understand that the scriptures prove that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. When Paul finally met up with the Apostles, they had nothing to add to his message.

Message

Paul wrote 14 books of the New Testement from Romans to Philemon. Paul’s message is spelled out in the theme verses of Romans. Rom 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — Jews first and also Gentiles. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

This salvation by faith is a great deviation from what the Pharisees believed. They felt that they were assured salvation because “Abraham was their father.” Matt 3:9.

Paul’s message is sometimes thought to be contradicted by James’ message.

Rom 3:28

8 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

James 2:19-20

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Sounds contradictory doesn’t it. James is not putting forth a faith plus works theology. James is defining what kind of faith one must have. There is a faith that has head knowledge of a truth and then there is a faith that causes one to change his ways.

Name Change

When Paul first began to teach, he would go to the synagogues and talk with the Jews. But after being rejected so much, he felt it was his place to take the message to the gentiles. This is when the name change came about. It is not the same kind of change like Abram to Abraham or Jacob to Israel. Those names were actually changes from one to the other. Saul to Paul was more of a cultural name change. Like someone named Jacque coming to live in the states and now going by the name James. It is the same name in two different cultures. It is not like Saul has a Jesus experience and Jesus changes his name, like what happened to Abram and Jacob.

Discourse on Israel

Romans 9-11 gives a full discourse on the fate of Israel, but the highlights are: For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so all Israel will be saved.

Servant Leadership

We as Christians are called to be servants. We are also called to be leaders. The two come together in the concept of servant leadership. My definition of a servant leader is a leader whose purpose is to serve those who follow him/her. Two stories in the bible strike me with their example of servant leadership. Then I have an experience to share with you about application of servant leadership.

Example 1. In Genesis chapter 13 we have the story of Abram and Lot living together. Abram is the leader of the clan, but when both Abram and Lot became too numerous for the land to support, quarrelling broke out between the two clans. (This is now my paraphrase of the story; I will add stuff for the sake of emphasis. It did not actually happen quite this way.) Abram being the leader summons Lot to his office. He explains the situation to Lot and informs Lot of Abram’s decision that the two must separate. Since Abram is the leader then Abram gets to choose, who goes where. Abram’s choice is to let Lot decide.

You will notice, Lot does not reciprocate on the generosity of Abram. Lot looks at the options and takes the best land. Abram does not get upset and renig on his generous offer. He does not take away Lot’s right to decide. He allows Lot to take the best land. God does, in this case, settle the score Himself. He blesses Abram’s clan and sattles Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah.

Example 2. John chapter 13 tells us, Jesus knew He had come from the Father and was going back to the Father so He wrapped a towel around His waist and washed the disciples’ feet. Imagine that. Jesus knowing that He is God and knowing that He was headed to the cross for the redemption of mankind: does an incredible act of servitude for the diciples. Not, hey give me glory for who I am and what I am about to do. No. Just another selfless and humble act of service. Servant Leadership demonstrated to the maximum, in my humble opinion.

Experience. The Evangelism Committee decided to do a random act of kindness in the name of Jesus. We went to a local park on a Saturday morning and handed out water bottles for free to the walkers, joggers, and runners. We did so in the name of Jesus not in the name of our church. Those who stopped to talk with us usually asked us what church we were from, so we did get to advertise our church as well.

One gentleman came by and said he was not interested in buying water. We told him it was our free gift to him with no obligations. He lit up like a Christmas tree. He went on and on about how great it was for us to give up our Saturday morning and hand out water to strangers. He was very thirsty and greatly appreciated the drink. He went on his way around the park path. While he was gone our leader decided to take some pictures of the group. As he reapproached our area, he noticed our leader getting ready to take the picture. He rushed up and energetically offered his “service” to take the picture so that the leader could be in it also. The leader kindly refused to let him take the picture. He made another plea to help, emphasizing that the leader needed to be in the picture too. The leader adamantly refused the help. The man was crestfallen. You could just see all the energy and enthusiasm that was in him disappear. He left us in a more depressed state than when he came upon us at first. All the good we had done was undone and more by the leader refusing to allow him to serve us.

The moral to the story is that while we are servants, we must also not be above being served. Therefore, if someone offers you their service for something we should find a way to accept it, so that they may be servants of Jesus Christ to us.

Praying Continuously

In 1 Thess 5:16-18 Paul tells us to: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What is prayer without ceasing?

I define praying continuously as a mindset that believes that every thought, action and word is done in relationship to Jesus Christ. So that when you are at work you should “work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Eph 6:7 This then would qualify as praying continuously.

Praying continuously is paying attention to where your mind goes at all times. Joyce Meyer calls it “The Battlefield is the Mind.” We should “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5

How can I accomplish this?

I have some benchmarks along the path to help me remember this is what I am suppose to be doing. The first one I came up with was turning on the hourly chime on my watch. Every hour, on the hour, it reminds me that I am a child of God and that my thoughts, actions and words need to reflect this reality. I was initially concerned with what I would tell people if they ask me why my chime is ON. Now, I have grown into wanting them to ask me. I have had it on for 6 years now and only 2 people have asked.

Next, I began to place other things like stop lights and stop signs as reminders. One day I asked the Lord how do I “fill in” the places between the benchmarks? The answer came into my mind, not words in my ears, just a thought. Music. So I began to memorize music and sing songs to God when my mind was not needed to be otherwise “employed.” On my trip to Africa I found this to be a common practice. When we were not in conversation with our African friends I would notice that they were almost always singing to themselves.

In “Practicing the Presence of Christ” by Brother Lawernce, you will find that he was singing while his mind was otherwise “employed.” I haven’t got to that level yet.

Six Questions

There are six questions that you may hear often that you should have a prepared answer. Remember, you will not convince or convict anybody of the Truth that Jesus is the Christ with these answers. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. Your job is merely to be a witness to the Light. If you are prepared for these questions then you will be a good witness and the Holy Spirit will have some seeds with which to work.

These answers are merely “my” answers and are therefore brief and incomplete. You may use them to build your own personal answers or find or develop completely different answers.

1. What language was the Bible originally written in? (Used as a setup question for number 2.)

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek although Jesus and his disciples spoke Hebrew and Aramaic as well. In the third century B.C. the O.T. was translated into Greek by 72 elders. It was called the Septuagint. Church father Jerome produced the official Latin version in 340-420 A.D. This is called the Vulgate meaning the Bible of the common people. In the 1500’s Martin Luther translated the Bible into German and William Tyndale translated the Bible into English (the forerunner of the KJV).

2. With all those translations, isn’t the Bible full of errors?

Some differences do exist between manuscripts with some translations containing what I would call outright errors. KJV includes the word “corn” 102 times. KJV was written in 1611 just after the explorers had returned from the new world with corn for the first time. The correct translation should read “grain.” Does this error contradict the essential message of the Bible that we need a Savior and Jesus Christ who is God Himself is that Savior. I think not.

3. Can’t I just try to be as good as I can and hope that God finds me good enough to go to heaven?

The Bible is clear on this. Nobody is good enough “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” Romans 3:23 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Gal 2:16.

4. What about the Jews?

Romans 9-11 gives a full answer but the highlights are: For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so all Israel will be saved.

5. Just saying you believe isn’t good enough for salvation. I see Christians behaving the same way I do, so what it is the difference?

This is exactly James’ point. James is not giving a new doctrine of Faith plus works. He is defining what type of Faith saves. Even the demons believe (believe=faith) but it does them no good. A faith that produces a change in you toward the righteousness of God and is therefore evident in your works is the faith that saves. So just believing doesn’t save, but allowing that belief to change you into His image does save.

Oh, and by the way, what other people profess and how they behave is not the right question. The question is Who do you say that Jesus is and what are you going to do about it?

6. Isn’t it very arrogant to think that Christianity is the only way to heaven?

John 14:6 says it clearly. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Gal 2:21 Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matt 26:39. Since the cup was not taken from Him, I must conclude that there is no other way for our salvation.

I think the arrogant statement would be, “I can get to God on my own. I don’t need the sacrifice that Jesus made for me.”

Six Words

When I first started reading the Bible for myself, I was told that I would need a Bible Dictionary, an English Dictionary, and a Bible Commentary to help me read. I thought that was silly and I was just going to read it for myself and understand it for what it plainly says. Well, I was wrong. I have been surprised how many times I have felt the need to go consult all of the above sources. There are definitely some words in the Bible that need to be defined in order to accurately understand what is being said. My top six words that need to be understood are Faith, Death, Salvation, Angel, Hell, and Soul.

Faith: “Faith” and “believe” pretty much mean the same thing. So when you see one word you can pretty much replace it with the other. We are told that we must “believe in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:18. “We are justified by faith in Christ.” Gal 2:16. But what do these two words mean? I think a “saving faith” is best defined as “trust.” The essence of Christianity is that we can not save ourselves, but that we need a Savior. So we must admit that we can’t save ourselves, but TRUST that Jesus will save us. There is also a “faith that does not save.” It is merely an acknowledgement of the truth.

Death: This means “separation,” not extinction. Physical death is the separation of the body from the spirit. (James 2:26) Spiritual death is the separation of a person from God. (Eph 2:1) The second death is eternal separation from God. (Rev 20:14) Death to sin is separation of a person from the ruling power of sin in their life. (Rom 6:6-7, 14)

Salvation: I used to think that salvation meant, “I get to go to heaven when I die.” Well, that is part of the salvation meaning. Salvation actually has three facets: a past salvation from the penalties of sin, a present salvation from the power of sin, and a future salvation from the presence of sin. The $10 words that apply to these three are: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. Since Justification happened when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and Glorification will happen when we meet Jesus Christ face to face, then our focus should be continually on the Process of Sanctification.

Angel: This word is used in three different ways. Sometimes angel refers to God (Acts 7:38), sometimes to men (Rev 2:1) and sometimes to spiritual beings (Luke 1:26.) So when you see this word, you should not think immediately of “spiritual being also created by God,” but read the supporting material around the word to get its appropriate meaning.

Hell: There are four words that get translated as hell in English. 1. Sheol: This is a Hebrew word used throughout the Old Testament. It moves between the ideas of the grave, the underworld and the state of death. 2. Hades: This is a Greek word used in the New Testament that denotes the same ideas as Sheol. 3. Gehenna: This is a valley outside of Jerusalem where children were sacrificed by fire in connection with pagan rites. It was used in Jesus’ day as a place where they burned trash. This word was used by Jesus and James to invoke the idea of the Lake of Fire. 4. Tartarus: This word is used only once. Peter used it in 2 Peter 2:4 to denote the place where God has sent some of the angels that rebelled. It is best thought of as an abyss of some sort.

Soul: In order to determine the difference between soul and spirit, it is helpful to look at the concept of the composition of man. There are two main theories: the two-part man and the three-part man.

The two-part man

This theory says that man is made up of a body and a spirit and together the two make a soul. This is actually a very convincing statement when you consider the literal meanings of the words translated into English as soul and spirit. The Greek and Hebrew words for soul both mean “has life.” Any living thing then is a soul, because it is alive. Man therefore does not have a soul, man is a soul. When the spirit leaves the body, death occurs and the soul no longer exists. The spirit goes to God and the body goes to dust. When the resurrection happens then the spirit comes from God and is reunited with the resurrected body and the soul exists again. The word “death” means separation. Add to this the literal meaning of spirit, which is “breath” or “wind” and the concept sounds perfect. The “breath” leaves the body and death occurs.

I have two problems. First, the concepts of “has life” and “breath” do not account for the conscious person or the persons “personality.” What is it that “goes to God?” So the spirit must be more than just “breath.” Here it becomes obvious that we are using human words with literal meanings to define things that are unseen and/or unknown. So using the literal meaning to answer the question is In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) useless. Second, the bible says that man is made in the image of God. God is three-in-one so IMHO man must be three-in-one as well.

The three-part man

This theory says that man is made up of a body, a soul, and a spirit. The Pentecostals have determined that the literal definitions of these words are not sufficient. They have continued to use these words as they are biblical and traditional, but they have changed their definitions. The new definitions attempt to define that unseen and/or unknown part of man. They define the soul as “the mind, will and emotions.” They define the spirit as “the inner most part of a person; that part through which God speaks to us.”

As you could well assume, I do like this theory better because it solves both of the problems of the two-part man. However, I think there is room for improvement on this theory. Take the idea of “the inner most part of a person.” Doesn’t that sound like a person’s personality? What is a person’s personality, if not his wants and not wants; his likes and his dislikes? So, I think it would be better to define the soul as “the mind” and the spirit as “the will and emotions?”

Biological man

Let’s leave the spiritual composition of man for a moment and see what the biology teacher has for us. We are aware that we have a body, a mind, and a sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind is aware of everything in the body and does many things for us without our conscious involvement. I don’t think anybody disagrees with this image of man.

So if we line these two up we see that body=body, soul=mind, and spirit=sub-conscious mind.

Hum?

I use that word “hum?” intentionally because it is the exact response my pastor had when I presented this idea to him. I suspect he hasn’t given it a second thought since.

If nothing else, it is an interesting idea. Play with it, mull it around and then throw it away. Just be sure to Glorify Jesus Christ as you go.

What the Authors meant by Soul and Spirit

So when you read the bible, can you just replace the word soul with mind and spirit with subconscious mind and then understand what the author is trying to say? NO! The authors of the bible (most of the time) use the words soul and spirit interchangeably. They are almost always talking about “that inner most part of you, the part through which God speaks to us.” But when you see phrases like “heart, mind, soul, and strength” or “body, soul, and spirit,” then understand those phrases to mean “all of you who are.” Now you will understand what the authors are trying to say.